Overview
- New reporting by The New York Times and the Boston Globe found that workers and regulars at all three Waffle House locations in Rome, Georgia did not recall any paranormal arrival and did not recognize Gregg Phillips’ photo.
- Phillips, who leads FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, has doubled down on social media, saying the experience was spiritual, that he was heavily medicated during cancer treatment, and that others used the word “teleportation.”
- Physics experts interviewed by the outlets called human teleportation effectively impossible, citing the vast information needed to reconstruct every atom in a person’s body.
- Scrutiny of Phillips has grown as CNN’s KFile and others documented his promotion of election-fraud theories and violent rhetoric, and House Homeland Security staff dropped him from a recent witness list after concerns were raised.
- Why it matters: his office manages major post-disaster operations with more than 1,000 staff and about $300 million, FEMA did not provide immediate comment, and the Waffle House “index” used in storm response adds symbolic weight to his Waffle House tale.